? RJ's Letter -- Making it Right -- REVERSING THE PRICE CHANGE FOR PREORDER HOLDERS

[WylieD]

...Rivian will lose money on each vehicle sold....

There is losing money as in not selling at the maximum the market will bear, and then there is losing money as in selling below actual cost. My bet is that Rivian is looking at the former, not the latter.

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[Scoiatael]

Anyone have an idea when our configuator will revert back to our 3/1 pricing?

CS has only said a few days. I'm pretty sure they want it all done and reinstate everyone who canceled before the 3/10 earnings call.

 

[Scoiatael]

There is losing money as in not selling at the maximum the market will bear, and then there is losing money as in selling below actual cost. My bet is that Rivian is looking at the former, not the latter.

Yep, Rivian is building a brand, and losing money is part of that. Tesla took years to become profitable. Now Tesla can raise prices and still are getting way more orders that they can handle, even with being able to build a couple hundred thousand vehicles every quarter now.

 

[crashmtb]

Anyone know what the required membership/subscription charge was a week ago? I don't recall ever seeing subscription options/pricing.

They haven’t been listed anywhere yet. Remains free of charge for the first year.

 

[crashmtb]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Rivian mail out some free swag to reservation holders to help regain their trust and apologize for their "not thought through" price increase mistake.

I’ve let them know I’d appreciate an R1T(shirt) or R1S(weatshirt)

 

[gordonrands]

After reading all posts (took a while!) I have a few thoughts. BTW, my pre-order was placed in 4/19: an R1T with Adventure package, max pack, camp kitchen, underbody protection and 20" wheels. Oh, and I'm a stockholder, at the IPO. I hadn't cancelled but was figuring I would end up with the Silverado or possibly the Cybertruck, in part due to the small R1T bed. I'm not rich and am very close to retirement but want to get off ICE to protect the environment, and want our only vehicle to be a pickup truck for versatility. The $93 K was going to be a stretch, but thought I could handle it.

1. As everyone has stated, the increase was really badly handled, even if the increases were justifiable. More info and/or gradual increases wouldn't have been received as badly.

2. Loads of thanks to those who did cancel. (I only emailed them with my displeasure and that I would probably be getting the Silverado or Cybertruck). The reversal wouldn't have happened without you, and I'm glad that you'll be getting your spot back in the queue.

3. Before this all came down I was planning to delay finalizing a purchase until I could drive the R1T and the Silverado (and maybe the Tesla if it gets produced before 2024). Now I'm pretty sure that I will go ahead and buy the R1T, even if 2-3 years later I decide that I'll sell it and buy one of the others instead. I now figure I should be able to get close to what I paid for it.

4. I find myself wondering whether Rivian will actually get a higher % of pre-orders finalizing than they would have had none of this happened -- depending on how many cancellations don't reinstate. The cynical side of me wonders if this entire sequence of events might have been planned for that purpose, but I strongly doubt it.

5. Strongly agree with one posters comment that Rivian needs to do a lot more in the way of pre-order holder events, test drives, events in communities, etc. I live 100 miles from the factory and asked a few weeks ago if they could bring a vehicle to our community Earth Day celebration. Still haven't heard back from them, and I doubt that I will.

6. One red flag for me from reading posts has been the question of subscription fees. I hadn't been on the forum before or hearing anything about this. Can anyone point me to background information on this? Is this common practice among Tesla and others selling EVs? I see it is free for the first year, but any estimates of how much these may amount to, and for what?

7. Im glad that this whole thing led me to this Forum. I had only been relying on Electrek articles before.

 

[Zoidz]

Anyone have an idea when our configuator will revert back to our 3/1 pricing?

It's Rivian so......... s 0 0 n

 

[FHM]

I don't know if anyone from Rivian reads this site but if they do, I have one word for them. LEARN. Learn from you communications blunder!!! Many people on this site have reservations with expected delivery dates. My expected date is April/May. You must immediately communicate with all of us and let us know if these dates have been extended. Leaving us to guess is NOT a solution and just repeats your poor communications process. LEARN.

See the attached email from FORD for my lightening reservation and LEARN.

 

[astonius]

I don't know if anyone from Rivian reads this site but if they do, I have one word for them. LEARN. Learn from you communications blunder!!! Many people on this site have reservations with expected delivery dates. My expected date is April/May. You must immediately communicate with all of us and let us know if these dates have been extended. Leaving us to guess is NOT a solution and just repeats your poor communications process. LEARN.

See the attached email from FORD for my lightening reservation and LEARN.

There's been no change to estimated delivery windows, so there's nothing to report. Sure, reiteration is nice, but I don't really fault them for not sending out an email blast to say there's no change.

 

[Tomgriff]

6. One red flag for me from reading posts has been the question of subscription fees. I hadn't been on the forum before or hearing anything about this. Can anyone point me to background information on this? Is this common practice among Tesla and others selling EVs? I see it is free for the first year, but any estimates of how much these may amount to, and for what?

I have a Tesla and pay no subscription fees. Mine is older and the connection is free for the life of the car. Newer Teslas require a $9.99/mo or $99/year connectivity fee inorder to connect over cellular networks. https://www.tesla.com/support/connectivity. Full self driving (which I wouldn't pay for at this point) is also available as a monthly subscription or outright purchase. Superchargers are available for any Tesla and are either free (if your car qualifies for free supercharging) or you are billed at whatever the rate is for that particular charger.

In terms of other EVs, I own a Chevy Bolt, the only subscription service is SiriusXM, like Chevies. For the Bolt, if you don't subscribe to Sirius then the Chevy App is very limited in capability and of course you don't have access to Sirius inside the car.

 

[radiopaul65]

Is there a difference between "preorder" and "reservation holder?"

I have a max pack with an ETA of Jan 2023 but my pricing in the configurator still shows the increased pricing.

I think those of us that put down a $1,000 deposit before the configurator was available are considered PRE-order holders.

Those that ordered their vehicle through the online configurator as they put down their deposit are regular reservation holders.

 

[PAFDenver]

I don't know if anyone from Rivian reads this site but if they do, I have one word for them. LEARN. Learn from you communications blunder!!! Many people on this site have reservations with expected delivery dates. My expected date is April/May. You must immediately communicate with all of us and let us know if these dates have been extended. Leaving us to guess is NOT a solution and just repeats your poor communications process. LEARN.

See the attached email from FORD for my lightening reservation and LEARN.

I actually think this was pure marketing from Ford - trying to capitalize (or at least look really good compared to Rivian). I have pre-orders in on both the R1T and Lightning and this was all I've really seen from Ford since I initially put my $100 down - except for credit card offers and marketing BS.
So Rivian has actually been MORE communicative than Ford - in my case anyway. This just looks like a dig at Rivian by Ford for marketing reasons. Actually pretty sleazy IMO.

 

[FHM]

There's been no change to estimated delivery windows, so there's nothing to report. Sure, reiteration is nice, but I don't really fault them for not sending out an email blast to say there's no change.

How do you know there is no change. Did they communicate that to you?

 

[astonius]

How do you know there is no change. Did they communicate that to you?

Yes, both in a reply to an email I sent after the price hike email and in a live chat with CS. All delivery estimates are still on track.

 

[mgc0216]

I don't know if anyone from Rivian reads this site but if they do, I have one word for them. LEARN. Learn from you communications blunder!!! Many people on this site have reservations with expected delivery dates. My expected date is April/May. You must immediately communicate with all of us and let us know if these dates have been extended. Leaving us to guess is NOT a solution and just repeats your poor communications process. LEARN

What are you on about? Why would any of the dates have changed? Beyond that - are you not seeing the people on this forum who are literally taking deliveries next week?

if not you must immediately go read them. immediately. you must.

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